Recipe: Grilled Oysters Rockefeller with Bacon

Recently on a vacation to the Oregon Coast, I was inspired to make Oysters Rockefeller with the fresh oysters purchased straight out of the Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon. Literally pulled out of the water just hours before I purchased them, I knew these oysters were going to be spectacular. And how better to celebrate them than to dress them up with spinach, tomatoes, garlic, butter, bacon, and cheese! We grilled the oysters whole in their shells first, popped them open with a shucking blade, dressed them with Rockefeller toppings, then broiled them in the oven. The result was truly divine, perfect oysters.

I forgot my camera that night, and had to make due with my iPhone. Our indoor lighting was terrible, but I did the best I could to get some step-by-step photos for this post.

Ingredients Needed for Grilled Oysters Rockefeller with Bacon

1 dozen small oysters in the shell

3/4 stick butter

1 cup finely chopped spinach

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (mixed with spinach)

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/3 cup finely diced tomato

3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 small lemon, juice evenly squeezed over oysters

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Oysters Rockefeller Ingredients

How to Make Grilled Oysters Rockefeller with Bacon

Place oysters, whole in shell, on a hot grill and cook for about 5 minutes, until shells begin to bubble and steam and slightly pop open.

Grill Oysters in Shell on Barbeque

Wearing gloves (to insulate hands), remove an oyster shell from grill, and while holding in gloved hand, place shucking blade into crack opening and twist to open the shell. Pull open shell, and run blade on top of connecting muscle to release oyster from the top half of shell. Reserve as much of the internal juices as you can, and place half shell on a baking tray. Discard top half of shell. Repeat with remaining oysters. If you want to get fancy, fill the baking sheet with rock salt and place the oyster shells on the salt instead.

Shuck Hot Oysters From Grill

Grilled Oysters in the Half Shell

Now, you could just stop here and enjoy these perfectly steamed oysters with some butter, hot sauce, and squeeze of lemon, and I’ll admit, we ate over a dozen like that. They were delicious, but the Rockefeller version put them to shame.

Top the oysters with a pad of butter (1/12th of the butter) and season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and shallot, bacon, spinach and parsley, tomato, Parmesan, lemon juice, and panko.

Oyster Rockefeller Toppings to Bake

Place under a broiler on center rack of oven and broil until cheese is melted and breadcrumbs are toasted, about 6-8 minutes.

Baked Oysters Rockefeller

Serve hot. Enjoy!

Recipe by Jothan Yeager, April 19, 2013

The Bald Gourmet grills up some amazing Oysters Rockefeller with a touch of bacon while vacationing at a beach house on the Oregon Coast.

How better to celebrate fresh oysters than to dress them up with spinach, tomatoes, garlic, butter, bacon, and cheese! We grill the oysters whole in their shells first, pop them open with a shucking blade, dress them with Rockefeller toppings, then broil them in the oven. The result is truly divine, perfect oysters.

Author: Jothan Yeager – The Bald Gourmet

Recipe type: Appetiser

Cuisine: Seafood

Ingredients

1 dozen small oysters in the shell

¾ stick butter

1 cup finely chopped spinach

½ cup finely chopped parsley (mixed with spinach)

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

⅓ cup finely diced tomato

3 slices bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 small lemon, juice evenly squeezed over oysters

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Place oysters, whole in shell, on a hot grill and cook for about 5 minutes, until shells begin to bubble and steam and slightly pop open.

Wearing gloves (to insulate hands), remove an oyster shell from grill, and while holding in gloved hand, place shucking blade into crack opening and twist to open the shell. Pull open shell, and run blade on top of connecting muscle to release oyster from the top half of shell. Reserve as much of the internal juices as you can, and place half shell on a baking tray. Discard top half of shell. Repeat with remaining oysters.

Top the oysters with a pad of butter (1/12th of the butter) and season with salt and pepper.

Place under a broiler on center rack of oven and broil until cheese is melted and breadcrumbs are toasted, about 6-8 minutes.

Serve hot. Enjoy!

Notes

If you want to get fancy, fill the baking sheet with rock salt prior to placing the oyster shells on it. Then, bake in the oven as usual. This will make for a more dramatic presentation, but adds nothing to the flavor.

I made this recipe. I am a novice and I was able to easily make it. I skipped the grilling since I had bought a pint of oysters and didn’t want to fire up my charcoal pit. I skipped the tomatoes and added mozzarella cheese. I broiled as suggested. It turned out perfect. My wife and I love them and ate all of them as our dinner meal. 5 stars for this recipe.

Prepared these last week, and they were amazing! Although half the oysters never made it to the kitchen, as we had crackers, hot sauce, and cocktail sauce by the grill, but hey, can you blame us? I have already passed this recipe on to several other people, and the response has been unbelievable. Thanks for a great recipe, and we will be using this when we head to the OBX this year…

Hey thanks Trey. Glad you liked the oysters. I have the same “eat half the oysters out on the grill” problem that you do. Thanks for sharing the recipe with your friends. I hope you try some of our other tasty recipes too.

I would like to buy shucked oysters like I do when I make oyster stew. Since they would not be grilled first would I have to cook them some before adding all the Ingredients and broiling. Can they be baked instead of broiled?

Great question Betty. Grilling them adds a nice subtle smoke flavor, but you can certainly skip this step if you’d like. You can shuck them first, add all the toppings, and then bake. Bake at 425 for about 10 mins, then finish them off under the broiler for a couple minutes to get the bread crumbs golden and crispy. Enjoy!

I made these for friends on Father’s day and they were delicious! Thanks for a great recipe. Today I came online to copy your recipe into my collection and saw then instruction about reserving as much of the liquid from the oysters as possible, when opening them up. No where do you say what to do with the reserved liquid. Do you mean to leave as much in the shell with the oyster before topping? I disregarded this completely and my oysters were still delicious.

Oh I’m so glad they turned out well for you Cindy! You are most welcome. The oyster liquid isn’t essential to the finished product, as you found out, but provides a little extra flavor punch and moistness that really is quite nice. Try it next time and see if you like it better or not. Thanks for stopping by The Bald Gourmet.

What was the answer re using a pocket knife? Would a sturdy butter knife do too?
I have just returned from Baton Rouge and enjoyed the Acme Oyster House char-broiled oysters which I plan to duplicate (topping of garlic etc butter and Romano cheese). Being as I do not have a shucking knife we had planned to broil for a moment first to start the shell opening, your blog is timely!
Loraine

Hi Lorain. Baton Rouge sounds fun. The oyster farm I visited sold shucking blades along side their oysters for only a few bucks, and I’m sure that most other quality fresh oyster sources would as well. However, most of the oysters seemed to open enough where you could use a less sturdy instrument to open them with, like a solid butter knife for example. I’m sure a pocket knife would work as well, but I’d be concerned of potential injury if it slipped.

Once the steam opens the oysters a bit, they are pretty easy to pry apart. However, I found that not all of the oysters opened on the grill. Some of them just stayed closed except for a tiny little crack that would let steam escape. These were more difficult to open, and was where the shucking blade came in handy. But I think a solid butter knife would probably do the job, just not as easily. The secret is to twist the blade once in the shell crack to pry it open, so choose something that you can get a good grip on. A wide screwdriver would probably work as well.

The secret to grilling the oysters is not over cooking them. They get tough/chewy the longer they cook. So you really only want them on the grill until you see steam or bubbling spatters appear. If only one oyster is doing that, take them all off anyway within a minute or two of each other.

Good morning Andy. The oyster farm I visited sold shucking blades along side their oysters for only a few bucks, and I’m sure that most other fresh oyster sources on the coast would as well. However, most of the oysters seemed to open enough where you could use a less sturdy instrument to open them with, like a solid butter knife for example. I’m sure a pocket knife would work as well, but I’d be concerned of potential injury if it slipped.

Once the steam opens the oysters a bit, they are pretty easy to pry apart. However, I found that not all of the oysters opened on the grill. Some of them just stayed closed except for a tiny little crack that would let steam escape. These were more difficult to open, and was where the shucking blade came in handy. Shucking blades are thick and sturdy, and are blunt, reducing potential injury while making prying efforts easier.

The secret to grilling the oysters is not over cooking them. They get tough/chewy the longer they cook. So you really only want them on the grill until you see steam or bubbling spatters appear. If only one oyster is doing that, take them all off anyway within a minute or two of each other.

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Welcome!

I'm Jothan Yeager and I am The Bald Gourmet. After years of experimenting in my kitchen, creating delicious food and eating at amazing places around the world, I wanted a place to share my experiences with everyone. Thus the Bald Gourmet was born. I hope to open the doors of great food and great cooking to you, to inspire you to reach beyond prepared boxed meals, and to teach you of a world of deliciousness that has brought joy to me and those around me. Please enjoy the adventure which is The Bald Gourmet and share it with those you love.